Welcome To Mystic Falls
by Twilight86x
Summary: The first in my Mystic Stranger rewrite. Ella D'Angelo is new in Mystic Falls, can she uncover the secrets of her classmates? Will her own secrets put them all in danger? Who is Ella's secret crush?


**A/N: Due to university and personal commitments I had to cut my Mystic Stranger series short. There were several storylines I had wanted to include in the original story. I have decided to begin a rewrite to include the untold stories. There will be bits and pieces of the original story included, but I have made some changes to make the story as fresh as possible.**

 **Chapter One**

Another new school, my fifth in two years. As much as I love my Dad, I wished we could stay in one place for more than a few months. Part of me hoped that Mystic Falls would be a new beginning for us, Dad had accepted a permanent position with the Sheriff Department as a deputy, but I knew that the cycle that was my life would probably continue. Maybe this is what he needed though, a steady gig and some stability, I knew it was what I needed.

When I was six and my Mom passed away, he left the Marines in order to take care of me. I guess adjusting back to life as a civilian had been difficult for him since we moved around so much, he would take security consulting jobs all over the country. Sometimes small towns with a crime problem would hire him before they'd call in the Feds. He was good at what he did, especially since he had a secret weapon...me.

Still, I was looking forward to being settled in one place for a while. Maybe I'd actually be able to make some friends and be here long enough not to be considered the new girl anymore. I hated starting a new school no matter how many times I did it, all the staring and gossiping, always worse in small towns where everyone had known each other since they were little kids. It was times like this that I missed my Mom, maybe if she were alive I wouldn't have spent the past twelve years of my life moving around the country.

'Are you okay kiddo?' Dad asked.

We were driving through the streets of Mystic Falls towards the High School and yet another first day of school. I turned away from the passenger side window to look at him. He smiled and I forced myself to smile back.

'I'm fine.'

'I know it's hard, all this moving, hopefully you won't need to be the new kid forever. It looks like Mystic Falls is going to be a pretty steady gig for me,' he explained seeing through my weak smile.

'I hope so,' I sighed and turned back to the window. 'I really just want to fit in.'

'You're pretty, smart and kind Ella,' Dad told me. 'Why wouldn't you fit in?'

'Because I'm shy, quiet and people think I'm weird.'

'You're not weird.'

'Of course you don't think I'm weird,' I rolled my eyes and looked back at him so that he could see. 'You're my father, but most people don't know what other people are feeling or have visions of the future.'

'You're special, just like your mother was, it doesn't make you weird.'

'Sure.'

The rest of the ride was silent as I continued to watch the town pass by in a blur. It wasn't long before we were outside the school. With a sigh, I grabbed my bookbag from the back seat and climb out of the car.

'Have a good first day kiddo,' Dad smiled, leaning over the seat I had just vacated.

'You too Dad,' I smiled back before closing the door and waving him off.

Taking a deep breath to ready myself for the staring and whispers, I headed into school. I had barely walked five steps when the first group of student began their staring and I felt a wave of curiosity wash over me as I passed them.

I could still remember the first time my empath powers had kicked in, I had collapsed under the force of emotion from the room full of students. I was twelve years old and it had happened during a school dance. All the excitement and energy had just been too much for me. I'd spent three days in the hospital, they'd diagnosed me with exhaustion. Dad had explained when he was finally able to take me home that I was 'special', just like my Mom had been.

After that I'd been labelled the weird girl. Even after we moved that moniker seemed to follow me. I was naturally shy finding out that I had supernatural powers made me even more self conscious. Moving around so much, it was always just easier to avoid people.

Keeping my head down, I hurried into the building and began my search for the main office. Masses of students swarmed the hall and stares and whispers followed me. Luckily I had learned to ignore the curious glances and whispering, I was always the new girl.

'Excuse me?' a friendly voice said from my left. I turned to face a pretty blonde with light blue eyes that were just slightly darker than my own pale blue. 'Do you need any help?'

'I'm looking for the main office,' I explained with a shy smile.

'I can show you where it is,' she beamed. 'I'm Caroline Forbes.'

I paused for a moment, surprised by her friendliness, before taking her outstretched hand. I froze as soon as our hands touched and the vision of Caroline cowering in a corner, pleading for someone not to hurt her, flashed through my mind.

'Hello.' Caroline waved her hand in front of my face, snapping me back to reality.

'Sorry,' I rushed, my face burning with embarrassment. 'Gabriella D'Angelo, but you can call me Ella.'

'It's nice to meet you Ella,' Caroline said, letting go of my hand and starting down the hallway. 'So what brings you to Mystic Falls?'

'My Dad just got a job with the Sheriff's Department,' I answered. It was a little uncomfortable to be answering questions about myself already. Normally people in small towns hated outsiders and kept their distance which was why I'd never really had any friends.

'Really? My Mom is the Sheriff!' she exclaimed, bouncing slightly. 'It was totally fate that I was the first person to speak to you!'

Thankfully we were already at the main office and I was able to make my escape. I thanked Caroline for her help and ducked into the office before she could ask me anything else. Inside looked like every other school office I had ever been in and the woman behind the counter had the same fake friendly air around her as the others. She took my documents, checked them and handed me my class schedule and map of the school without looking at me once.

'Thanks,' I said as I accepted the papers, my tone dripping with sarcasm. Not even that was enough to draw her attention.

As I left the room I was looking down at my class schedule and nearly walked right into Caroline who had been hovering outside the office door. I gasped and jumped back right before we collided.

'So where's your first class?' she asked, not acknowledging that I had almost run into her.

'Um...History with Mr Saltzman,' I said, slightly flabbergasted.

'That's my class!" she exclaimed happily. Grabbing my wrist she pulled me down the hall toward our class.

I was too shocked to fight her as she dragged me along. Why was she being so nice to me? It didn't feel right, every small town I'd moved to they had all known each other since they were small and had already formed their groups of close friends and really didn't like outsiders. Yet this girl was being friendly and helpful and was trying to befriend me with her excited inane chatter. What made it even more confusing was that I could sense her sincerity. There wasn't a fake thing about her, she was genuinely this nice and perky.

Maybe I was being cynical, but I didn't trust her. Even if she was genuinely friendly, girls tended not to like me. Most people thought I was too pretty, although I disagreed. My Italian heritage had given me fairly good bone structure, I had high cheekbones but I always thought my face was too thin and gaunt. My big, pale blue eyes, that I had apparently inherited from a distant relative of my father, were cold and a little too large for my face. I had olive coloured skin which I sort of liked and got from my mother, but my long, black hair was flat and lifeless and hung around my shoulders like a dark veil.

Maybe it was me projecting or my past experience of teenage girls, but I was suspicious that Caroline was trying to lure me into some sort of new girl hazing. No one could really be this nice, could they?

'Here we are!' Caroline announced when we stopped outside a classroom. 'Mr Saltzman is awesome, I think you'll really like him. And my friends Elena, Bonnie and Stefan are all in this class too. I'll introduce you!'

'Why?' I asked before I could stop myself.

Caroline turned to face me, her brow puckered into a frown. 'Why what?'

'Why are you being so nice to me?' I elaborated. 'Why do you want to introduce me to your friends? You don't know anything about me, I could be a psycho killer for all you know.'

'You're new,' she shrugged, her face the picture of sincerity and kindness. 'You don't know anyone and I just thought you'd like a friend. No one should be alone.'

She was telling the truth and I was completely taken aback.

'Thank you,' I breathed. It was nice, having someone who wanted to know me instead of being alone.

'You're welcome,' she beamed and dragged me into the classroom.

Caroline's friends were as stunning as she was and I suddenly felt even more self conscious. Her friend Elena was a pretty brunette with a sweet smile, her boyfriend Stefan was tall, gorgeous and brooding and Bonnie was a beautiful black girl and dark, soft curls.

'Elena, Bonnie and Stefan,' Caroline said their names with a cheerful bounce. 'This is Ella D'Angelo, the newest inhabitant of Mystic Falls. Ella these are my best friend's in the world.'

'Hi,' I smiled, ducking my head slightly so that my long hair partially hid my face, and my discomfort.

'It's nice to meet you Ella,' Elena smiled brightly. 'Welcome to Mystic Falls.'

'Thank you,' I smiled back. Elena struck me as the type of person that you could easily feel comfortable around.

'Where are you from?' Bonnie asked.

'Everywhere,' I shrugged. 'We sort of move around a lot.'

'That must be difficult,' Stefan said, sympathetically.

'Sometimes,' I nodded. 'But I'm hoping that Mystic Falls will be home for a while at least. My Dad just started a permanent job as a Deputy.'

'Yeah,' Caroline nodded enthusiastically. 'Isn't it totally fate that I was the first person Ella met when our parents will be working together.'

Bonnie laughed and patted my arm gently. 'Don't worry, you'll get used to Caroline's enthusiasm, it's never ending.'

I smiled automatically, but Bonnie's touch has sent a strange feeling through me. She wasn't a Fae like me, but she was something extremely powerful. There was something strange about the people of Mystic Falls. Now that I was around more people I could sense a strange, almost animalistic, edge to Caroline and Stefan's emotions.

Just then a very handsome man entered the room and everyone took their seats for the class to begin. Mr Saltzman had kind blue eyes and I was happy when he simply smiled at me, gaze the class my name and then began. He didn't make me introduce myself and tell a room full of strangers some inane detail about myself that no one actually cared about.

As he spoken about some battle that I couldn't care less about, I watched Stefan, Caroline and Bonnie out of the corner of my eye. Mystic Falls was going to be interesting, who didn't love a good mystery to unravel.

 **TBC...**


End file.
